Flashlight holder clamp assembly

ABSTRACT

A flashlight holder clamp assembly having a mounting bracket which contains an elastomeric substantially spherical gripping member having a centrally disposed cylindrical channel therein for receiving a portion of the barrel of a small flashlight. The gripping member also defines a plurality of uniformly spaced longitudinal slots which communicated along their inner ends with the central channel so as to allow the gripping member to be uniformly constricted by the mounting bracket upon clamping the flashlight holder clamp assembly to a tubular member, such as a bicycle handlebar. The end of the flashlight holder clamp assembly which contains the spherical gripping member has four apertures formed therein to accommodate the portions of the flashlight barrel projecting outwardly from the spherical gripping member and allowing the flashlight to be directed in any one of four general directions, either perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the bicycle handlebars or in a direction along the longitudinal direction of the bicycle handlebars. The lower portion of the flashlight holder clamp assembly defines a pair of cooperating gripping surfaces which clamp onto the tubular member as the mounting bracket is tightened about the spherical gripping member by a suitable tightening means.

BACKGROUND

This invention relates to a device for holding a flashlight securely andfor also clamping the flashlight with its holder onto a tubular shapedmember such as a bicycle handlebar, backpacking frame, etc. Theinvention is primarily intended for use with a miniature, hand heldflashlight of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,263, U.S. Pat.No. 4,658,336 or U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,565.

Hand held flashlights of various sizes, shapes, and containing variousfeature are well known. It is also well known that bicycles may beequipped with lights for use in night time cycling. It would thereforebe highly desireable to provide a clamp assembly by which a flashlightcould be secured to the handlebars of a bicycle. Such a clamp assemblyshould be economical to manufacture and be readily adjustable. It wouldalso be desireable to provide an assembly which has an adjustablemounting for a flashlight for use on other support structures. Such anassembly is described herein.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a clamp for securelyholding a hand held flashlight and for clamping the hand held flashlightat an appropriate location of a bicycle at one end and for holding andorienting a dry cell flashlight at its other end to provide for lightinga pathway ahead of the bicycle.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a portableflashlight holder clamp for clamping onto a tubular shaped object at oneend and for holding a flashlight at its other end whereby the flashlightholder end may be oriented so that the flashlight shines in either thedirection of the tubular member or in a direction substantiallyperpendicular to the tubular member.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a flashlight holderclamp which is adjustable to provide for varying the angle that the beamof light from the flashlight is directed with respect to a predeterminedreference direction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

By the following description a flashlight holder clamp is describedwhich accomplishes the above aforementioned objects and which providesfor an adjustable, portable means for holding a hand held typeflashlight at one of its ends and for clamping onto a structural member,such as a bicycle handlebar, at its other end.

The flashlight holder clamp assembly of the present invention includes atruncated spherical gripping member adapted to fit about a portion ofbarrel the flashlight, a mounting bracket adapted to fit about thespherical gripping member and to clamp onto the handlebar or othersupport member to which the assembly is to be secured, and a fasteningmember for drawing the mounting bracket tightly about the grippingmember and the support member. Upon tightening the fastening member, theassembly is secured to the support member, such as for example, abicycle handlebar, and the gripping member is constricted about theflashlight barrel to secure the flashlight in place in a desired angularorientation with respect to the support member.

The spherical gripping member also defines a plurality of uniformlyspaced longitudinal slots therein which communicate along their innerends with the central cylindrical channel therein to provide uniformconstruction of the gripping member about the flashlight. The sphericalgripping member is contained within an upper region of the mountingbracket defined by an upper forward portion thereof and a upper rearwardportion wherein the inner periphery of the adjacent portions defines acurvature to smoothly adjoin the outer periphery of the sphericalportion of the gripping member such that upon drawing the two portionstogether about the gripping member, the gripping member is constrictedabout the flashlight barrel. The adjacent upper forward and upperrearward portions of the mounting bracket also define twoperpendicularly disposed pairs of aligned apertures therein; a forwardand rearward facing pair and lateral facing pair. A selected one of thepairs of apertures receives the portion of the flashlight barrelprotruding from the spherical gripping member and thereby allows theflashlight to be held by the gripping member within the mounting bracketin a selected orientation with respect to the support member.

The mid region of the forward and rearward portions of the mountingbracket provide for an attaching and tightening means such as forexample a male/female screw. The lower ends of the forward and rearwardportions of the mounting bracket are configured to fit the handlebarsuch that upon tightening of the male/female screw, the forward andrearward positions of the mounting bracket are drawn together,constricting the spherical gripping member in the upper portion thereof,while the lower ends of the bracket are drawn tightly about the supportmember, thereby securing the flashlight in place on the support member.Prior to tightening of the screw fastener, the gripping member with theflashlight protruding therefrom is rotated within the upper region ofthe mounting bracket to bring the flashlight into the desired angularorientation with respect to the support member. Tightening of the screwfastener secures the flashlight in place.

The forward and rearward facing apertures in the upper forward and upperrearward portions of the mounting bracket permit orientation of thegripping member and the flashlight so that the beam of light may bedirected generally perpendicular in either a forward or rearwarddirection from the longitudinal axis of a support member, such as thebicycle handlebar. The allowable rotational movement of the grippingmember within the mounting bracket permits the gripping member to beoriented so that the beam of light can be readily adjusted upwardly,downwardly or to the left or to the right from a direction preciselyperpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the handlebar. It shouldalso be noted that the lateral apertures formed by the upper forward andupper rearward section also provide for orientation of the ball so thatthe flashlight may be pointed in either a forward or rearward directionalong the longitudinal direction of the tubular member.

The gripping sphere preferably is made of a plastic material that hasgood strength, elasticity, and forming characteristics, such as one ofmany nylon based materials commercially available. The mounting bracketmay be made of metal, or may also be made of plastic materials. Thefastener may be a conventional male/female screw fastener, or may be anyone of a number of conventional fastening means such as thumb screw,wing nut, or allen socket type screw. In the preferred embodiments theflat in the head of the screw is sized to accommodate a coin, such as aU.S. quarter, or other common coin depending on the country of interest,so that the coin may be used as a screwdriver.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the flashlight holder clampassembly of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional, side view of the FIG. 1 assembly.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the FIG. 1 assembly taken at 90° from the FIG.2 view.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the FIG. 1 assembly taken at the same angle asthe FIG. 2 view.

FIG. 5 is a partial cross sectional, top view of the gripping sphere ofthe present invention.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross sectional, bottom view of the gripping sphereof the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side view of an assembly of the present invention made witha plastic material.

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional, side view of the FIG. 7 assembly with thegripping sphere in place.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

By reference to FIGS. 1-8 preferred embodiments of the present inventionwill be described.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, an exploded perspective view, a crosssectional, side view and a side view of a first embodiment of thepresent invention is shown generally at 10. The flashlight holder clampassembly generally comprises a truncated spherical gripping member 11and a mounting bracket 12 having a first member 13 and a second member14. The gripping member 11 is preferably made of a plastic material suchas one of the many nylon based materials commercially available. Becausethe truncated spherical gripping member 11 functions to close down uponor constrict the flashlight barrel upon tightening of the mountingbracket 12, virtually any other material of construction for thegripping member which will permit this function is acceptable forpurposes of this invention. Shown in FIG. 1 in phantom is a flashlightpositioned within the spherical gripping member 11. The sphericalgripping member 11 is contained within the upper regions of a forwardportion 15 of the first member 13 and rearward portion 16 of the secondmember 14 of the mounting bracket 12. The mounting bracket 12 has amid-region 17 for containing a fastener such as a male/female screwfastener shown with male portion 18 and female portion 19 for drawingtogether the forward and rearward portion of the mounting bracket 12about the gripping member 11 and a bicycle handlebar, as will bedescribed. The mounting bracket 12 also has a lower forward and rearwardportion generally shown as clamping around a bicycle handlebar 20 orother tubular member as shown in FIG. 2. Reinforcing ribs 21, 22 providean additional measure of support between the upper and lower regions ofthe first and second members 13 and 14 of the mounting bracket 12. Inthe preferred embodiments the tubular member 20 is intended to be aconventional handlebar of a bicycle along the region where the handlebarextends longitudinally in a direction perpendicular from thestraight-ahead path of the bicycle.

As mentioned above the spherical gripping member is preferably made of aplastic material. The gripping member has a centrally disposedcylindrical channel extending therethrough of sufficient diameter toaccommodate a flashlight barrel. In order to accommodate different sizedflashlight barrels, as for example to accommodate an AA or AAA sizedflashlight barrel, gripping member 11 may be constructed with differentchannels 23 of varying cross-sectional diameters but having the sameouter diameter in order to fit snugly within the mounting bracket 12.Alternatively the spherical gripping member 11 may be constructed with alarge channel diameter and one or more inserts of the same or equivalentmaterial may be provided so that the insert will fit into the channel 23with the inner diameter of the insert being sized to accommodate thebarrel of a flashlight of chosen size. Also, the spherical grippingmember 11 has a plurality of uniformly spaced longitudinal slots 24 cutinto the body of the gripping member 11 to provide for evenconstriction, i.e.. distribution of the clamping, or holding force uponthe flashlight barrel with tightening of the male/female screw fastenerportions 18, 19. It should be noted that the flashlight mounting bracketof the present invention, and in particular the slots 24 of thespherical gripping member 11, may be presented in a number ofaesthetically pleasing ways. For example, a preferred embodiment of theflashlight holder clamp assembly of the present invention is shown incopending design patent application, entitled Flashlight Holder ClampAssembly.

The upper portions of the mounting bracket 12 are provided with a pairof circular axially aligned apertures 25 and 26 with aperture 25 beingdisposed in the forward body portion 27 and aperture 26 being disposedin the rear body portion 28, as seen in FIGS. 1-2. The left and rightsides of each of the forward body portion 27 and rearward body portion28 are formed so that upon assembly, two axially aligned side or lateralapertures 29 and 30 are formed between the forward and rearward bodyportions 27 and 28 with the central common axis of apertures 29 and 30being perpendicular to the central common axis of apertures 25 and 26.The forwardly and rearwardly facing apertures 25 and 26 are preferablyof the same diameter as the perpendicularly disposed apertures 29 and30. To allow for pivotal adjustment of the gripping member 11 andattached flashlight within the mounting bracket 12, the diameter of eachof apertures 25, 26, 29 and 30 is larger than the cross-sectionaldiameter of the channel 23 in the gripping member 11. Through thisconfiguration, the flashlight shown in phantom lines in FIG. 1 extendsthrough the channel 23 in the truncated spherical gripping member 11 andprotrudes outwardly from the clamp assembly through either alignedapertures 25 and 26 or 29 and 30, depending on the desired orientationof the flashlight with respect to the handlebar 20.

In use, the flashlight to be carried by the assembly is inserted throughthe cylindrical channel 23 in the gripping member 11. The mountingbracket 12 is then placed about the gripping member 11 and the handlebar20 with the barrel of the flashlight aligned with and extending througheither aligned apertures 25 and 26 or 29 and 30 depending on the desiredorientation with respect to the handlebar 20. On a bicycle handlebar,the flashlight would normally point forwardly through aperture 25. InFIG. 1 the phantom flashlight and gripping member 11 are shown orientedat a right angle from a normal orientation. The fastening members 18 and19 are then tightened, constricting the spherical gripping member 11about the barrel of the flashlight, securing the gripping member inplace between the upper portions 27 and 28 of the mounting bracket 12and tightening the lower portions 31 and 32 of the mounting bracket 12about the handlebar 20. To adjust the angle of the flashlight beam, itis only necessary to loosen the fastening members 18, 19 which relievesthe pressure extended by the mounting bracket 12 on the gripping member11, allowing the flashlight and gripping member to be rotated within andwith respect to the mounting bracket to the desired orientation.Retightening the fastening members 18, 19 secures the gripping member 11and flashlight in the desired orientation. The adjustment provided bythis assembly is limited by the diameter of the aligned apertures in themounting bracket to the maximum allowable deviation of the flashlightfrom the central axis of the aligned apertures, so that the flashlightbarrel will abut the edge of the wall of the apertures through which theflashlight extends. Such deviation, however, allows more than ampleadjustment of the flashlight so that it can be rotated to point at anangle less than the horizontal direction and thus focus on a point alongthe straight ahead path of the bicycle. The spherical gripping membermay also be rotated so that the channel 23 and, thus the flashlight,point in a direction along the longitudinal direction of the tube 20. Insuch a mounting, the flashlight would be mounted within the assemblysuch that it would extend through side apertures 29 and 30 in themounting bracket as opposed to apertures 25 and 26 for a forwardpointing securement.

It is also within the scope of the invention that filters, such as ared, yellow or green filter may be used in conjunction with theflashlight and that the flashlight placed in the flashlight clampassembly of the present invention may be used to perform a safety, orwarning function, as well as an illuminating function.

Although the flashlight mounting assembly of the present invention isintended primarily for use on bicycle handlebars to provide forillumination of the bicycle path during darkness, numerous other usesmay be made of the flashlight holder clamp of the present invention. Forexample it may be used on backpack frames and as an aid to illuminationor for providing warning illumination in conjunction with virtually anyother device, member, or surface onto which the clamp may be fastened.

By reference to FIGS. 7 and 8 a second preferred embodiment of thepresent invention is shown. In the FIGS. 7 and 8 embodiment, themounting bracket material is of a plastic construction. In FIGS. 7 and 8like parts as shown in FIGS. 1-6 are illustrated with the same referencenumerals and lead lines. For example the same truncated sphericalgripping member 11 with a cylindrical channel 23 and slots 24 are shown.In FIGS. 7 and 8 like parts having the different, or plastic material ofconstruction are shown with a prime designation after the numeral. Thusfor example the forward housing unit is labeled as 27¹ and the rearwardhousing unit is designated as 28¹. As shown in FIG. 8 the midregion 17¹is formed with recesses sized to accommodate the male portion 18 andfemale portion 19 of the male/female screw fastener. The head of thescrew also has a slot dimensioned to accept a popular coin of a desiredcountry, for example a U.S. quarter. Reinforcing ribs 21¹, 22¹ as shownin FIGS. 7 and 8 provide an additional measure of support between theupper and lower regions of the clamp assembly. The thickness of thehousing members 27¹ and 28¹ are not critical, provided that thethickness provides sufficient strength and support for the mountingbracket and the contained gripping member 11. As may be noted bycomparing FIGS. 2 and 8, the FIG. 8 housing members 27¹ and 28¹, whenmade of the plastic material, are thicker than the members 27 and 28when made of metal, as shown in FIG. 2. As also is shown in FIGS. 1-4and 7-8 the edges of the housing are rounded off to preclude havingsharp or rough edges, and may be rounded or smoothed in a variety ofaesthetically pleasing ways, such as shown in my corresponding designpatent application.

Although the preferred embodiments show a single fastening means such asa male/female screw fastener which accomplishes both functions ofholding the housing pieces of the mounting bracket 12 together so thatit may be clamped onto a tubular member such as a bicycle handlebar 20,and of constricting the gripping member 11 around the flashlight barrelat channel 23 to achieve a gripping effect, the flashlight holder clampmay be constructed with other fastening means which perform thesefunctions. Also, the mounting bracket may be constructed so thatdifferent fastening means perform each of these separate functions. Forexample the mounting bracket may have one fastening means to clamp ontothe held device, such as the bicycle handlebar while a second clampingmeans could be used to tighten down on the gripping member 11. Thesealterations are also considered to be within the scope of the presentinvention, although they are not specifically set forth with drawingsherein.

While preferred embodiments of the herein invention have been described,numerous modifications, alterations, alternate embodiments and alternatematerials may be contemplated by those skilled in the art and may beutilized in accomplishing the objects of the present invention. It isenvisioned that all such alternates are considered to be within thescope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

We claim:
 1. A flashlight holder clamp assembly for adjustably securinga flashlight to a tubular member, said assembly comprising:a generallytruncated, spherically shaped gripping member having a cylindricalchannel extending centrally therethrough adapted to receive a portion ofa flashlight therein and having a plurality of slots therein spaced apredetermined distance from each other and in communication with saidchannel; a housing means for containing said gripping member and forclamping onto a tubular member, and means for tightening said housingabout the tubular member and for constricting said gripping memberwhereby a flashlight held within said gripping member is secured to thetubular member.
 2. A flashlight holder clamp assembly for adjustablysecuring a flashlight to a support member, said assembly comprising:anelastomeric generally spherically-shaped gripping member, said memberdefining a cylindrical channel extending centrally therethrough adaptedto receive a portion of a flashlight therein and defining a plurality ofuniformly spaced longitudinal slots communicating with said channel; amounting bracket having a forward portion and a rearward portion, saidforward portion being disposed adjacent said rearward portion anddefining therewith a first pair of gripping surfaces and a second pairof gripping surfaces, said first pair of gripping surface being adaptedto engage said gripping member and said second pair of griping surfacebeing adapted to engage tubular member; and means for drawing togetherthe forward and rearward portions of said mounting bracket to constrictsaid gripping member between said first pair of gripping surfaces abouta portion of the flashlight and to clamp said pair of gripping surfacesonto the tubular member whereby the flashlight is secured to the tubularmember in a desired angular orientation with respect thereto.
 3. Theassembly of claim 2 wherein said first pair of gripping surfaces definea substantially spherical receiving area for said gripping member andfor uniformly engaging said gripping member over a substantial portionof the outer surface of said member such that upon said first pair ofgripping surfaces being constricted by said tubular means, said grippingmember is uniformly constricted about said channel.
 4. The assembly asin claims 2 or 3 wherein said forward and rearward portions of saidmounting bracket define a first pair of axially aligned apertures and asecond pair of axially aligned apertures therein, the diameter of eachof said apertures being larger than the cross-sectional diameter of saidcentrally disposed channel, and the first pair of axially alignedapertures being perpendicularly disposed with respect to the secondpair.
 5. The assembly as in claims 2 or 3 wherein said second pair ofgripping surfaces are disposed below said first pair of grippingsurfaces and said means for drawing together extends between and engagessaid forward portion and said rearward portion of said mounting bracketintermediary of said first pair of gripping surfaces and said secondpair of gripping surfaces.
 6. The assembly of claim 5 wherein saidforward and rearward portions of said mounting bracket define two pairof axially aligned apertures therein, the diameter of each of saidapertures being larger than the cross-sectional diameter of saidcentrally disposed channel, and one pair of axially aligned aperturesbeing perpendicularly disposed with respect to the other pair.
 7. Theassembly as in claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein the centrally disposed channelin said gripping member is sized to accommodate an AA sized flashlight.8. The assembly as in claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein the central disposedchannel in said gripping member is sized to accommodate an AAA sizedflashlight.
 9. The assembly of claim 5 wherein said drawing means is amale/female screw fastener.